Road Trips & Drives
The Great Ocean Road, the Gibb River Road and everything between
Australia is built for the self-drive. The classics run the coast — the Great Ocean Road, the Legendary Pacific Coast, the Great Barrier Reef Drive — while the epics head inland and north: the Explorers Way from Adelaide to Darwin, the Red Centre Way, and the Gibb River Road across the Kimberley in a 4WD. Distances are long, so plan fuel, water and mobile coverage.
Mirrors Tourism Australia's own theme Road trips and drives.
The states and territories this theme is strongest in — tap through to the full state guide.
Queensland
The Great Barrier Reef, rainforest and endless beaches
Victoria
Melbourne laneways, the Great Ocean Road and cool-climate wine
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Great Ocean Road 243 km of cliff-edge driving past the Twelve Apostles, built by returned soldiers as a war memorial. -
Twelve Apostles Limestone stacks standing off the Shipwreck Coast — best at sunrise, before the coaches. -
Gippsland Ninety Mile Beach, alpine country and dairy-farm food east of Melbourne.
Western Australia
Ningaloo, the Kimberley and a third of a continent
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The Kimberley Three times the size of England with fewer than 40,000 people — gorges, waterfalls and ancient rock art. - Esperance Lucky Bay, where the sand is blinding white and kangaroos sunbathe on the beach.
- Coral Coast Perth to Exmouth — pink lakes, Shark Bay, the Pinnacles and Ningaloo at the end of it.
South Australia
Wine regions, wildlife islands and the Flinders Ranges
Tasmania
Wilderness, wild food and the cleanest air in the world
Northern Territory
Uluṟu, Kakadu and the world's oldest living culture
Best bases for this
Gateway hubs that put the most of this theme within reach.
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Coming soon Melbourne and surrounds Laneway coffee, street art and sport, with the Great Ocean Road and the Yarra Valley on the doorstep. - Coming soon Broome and surrounds Pearling-town gateway to the Kimberley — Cable Beach camels, Gibb River Road and Purnululu.
- Coming soon Alice Springs and surrounds The Red Centre's town — West MacDonnell gorges, the Larapinta Trail and the road to Uluṟu.
Other ways to travel
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Aboriginal Australia The world's oldest continuing culture, shared on Country -
Beaches & Islands More than 10,000 beaches and 8,000 islands -
Nature & National Parks Reef, rainforest, gorge country and the Outback -
Wildlife Animals you will not see anywhere else -
Food & Drink 65 wine regions, world-class coffee and native ingredients -
Walks & Hikes Great Walks, coastal tracks and city-edge escapes -
Adventure & Sports Dive, surf, sail, climb and sandboard -
Arts & Culture Galleries, laneways, festivals and convict history -
Luxury Wilderness lodges, private islands and long-distance trains -
Health & Wellness Hot springs, retreats and slow coastal days -
Family Travel Wildlife parks, theme parks and safe swimming -
Eco-friendly Travel Low-impact islands, eco-lodges and travel that gives back
Photography
Images on this page are sourced from Wikimedia Commons under free licences (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA) and are photographs of the places named. Author, licence and source for each:
- The Kimberley — W. Bulach · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Outback Queensland — Josselin Berger · CC BY 2.0
- Great Ocean Road — Bob Tan · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Twelve Apostles — Dietmar Rabich · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Gippsland — Julie Constable · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Flinders Ranges — Faj2323 · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Tasmania's Wild West Coast — Magic lyrebird · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Kings Canyon (Watarrka) — Toby Hudson · CC BY-SA 3.0
- The Red Centre — Murray Foubister · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Melbourne — Arnaud Mesureur tbzr · CC0